25 May 2017
NEW ORLEANS, LA (May 25, 2017) – At PitchNOLA: Living Well presented by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana, 10 entrepreneurs pitched their ideas to improve equitable health outcomes in New Orleans for $10,000 in total funding.
First place prize of $5,000 went to FIT (Formerly Incarcerated Transitions) Clinic, the only transitional care clinic in Louisiana offering care for individuals recently released from incarceration. Since opening in May 2015, the clinic has been providing medical, behavioral, and social care to patients to reduce recidivism and assist with their re-entry.
FIT Clinic will use the prize money to cover their operating costs of first visit co-pay, labs, and medication for patients, with the goal of working with the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals and the Department of Corrections to implement pre-release Medicaid enrollment starting in 2018.
Second place prize of $3,000 went to CALM (Clear Answers to Louisiana Mental Health) to fund community outreach required to help New Orleanians better understand, treat, and break the stigma of psychosis.
The third place prize of $2,000 was awarded to Street Medicine New Orleans to continue to provide medical care and case management outreach for the city’s unsheltered homeless.
REMiXEcology earned the Audience Favorite Award of $500 for their idea to reconnect minorities with the great outdoors.
ABOUT PITCHNOLA: LIVING WELL
Now in its fourth year, PitchNOLA: Living Well presented by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana is a pitch competition awarding funding to ideas for ideas to make health affordable and accessible for all New Orleanians. The event is made possible by partners the New Orleans Health Department, Second Harvest Food Bank, LSU Agriculture Center, Touro Infirmary, Ochsner Health System, and 504HealthNet.
Media Contact:
Catherine Gans
(504) 302-3747
cgans@gopropeller.org